Mayor to consult Londoners on later Tubes

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is to consult with Londoners on whether the Tube should run an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights. The Mayor and London Underground are currently investigating proposals to run trains an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights, so that trains would still be running from central London until around 1.30am. If given the go-ahead the plan could be implemented by the end of 2006.

Market research, published in the Mayor’s newsletter The Londoner, has found 140,000 extra passengers would use the later service. However there is a drawback to later trains as this will lead to a later start the following morning to allow essential maintenance to track, trains and signals that can only be carried out at night when the network shuts down.

Announcing the plans the Mayor said: “We know many Londoners would like the Tube to run later at weekends, so they can travel home safely after a night out at the theatre or a club. But we also recognise that if the Tube starts an hour later, this would affect those Londoners who rely on the Underground to get to work early on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

“We want Londoners to be aware of the advantages and the disadvantages of running the Tube later at weekend and we want to hear their views before a final decision is made.”

Transport for London will be consulting on the proposals in the next few months.